Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

The First to Die at the End by Adam Silvera

57 reviews

teawitchontravel's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book is one of the saddest and at the same time most hopeful books I have ever read. It tackles the issue of dealing with knowing the death of a close person or even yourself will occur and how to live your life to the fullest, not only when you know it's about the end. It shows in a heartbreaking and beautiful way how important it is to take control of your own life, be the captain of your own ship if you will. For that it not only uses the two main characters but also the people surrounding them and learning the same lesson. They are included in the story with an amazing  thoughtfulness and their lifes are tied into each other which shows how close and similar we can be to someone without realizing. This book will forever remain in my heart and I am so thankful the author wrote this prequel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Homophobia, Grief, Death of parent, Chronic illness, Physical abuse, Mass/school shootings, Gun violence, Death, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Sexual content, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Medical content, Outing, Murder, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Infidelity and Alcohol

captainrenjamin's review against another edition

dark emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Death, Domestic abuse, Violence, Death of parent, and Chronic illness

Moderate: Homophobia

nightowlreader46's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Child death, Domestic abuse, Mass/school shootings, Terminal illness, Blood, Grief, Death, Homophobia, Car accident, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, and Cancer

strawberrytheauthor's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Literally bawled my eyes out like a freaking baby! First time crying in my dorm while my roommate was there. This book with claw out your heart and replace it with its own. 

I only wish we were able to learn how deathcast works. I feel like the way this was written where it tried to involve you in the creation of deathcast but still keep you separate didn’t work. It made me think that Adam Silvera doesn’t actually know how deathcast is supposed to work. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Car accident, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Chronic illness, Cursing, Blood, Domestic abuse, and Grief

Moderate: Alcohol, Homophobia, Infidelity, and Sexual content

libraryofhope's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Gun violence, Chronic illness, Physical abuse, and Violence

quinniantheduck's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Grief, Terminal illness, Death, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Homophobia, Gun violence, and Violence

Minor: Sexual content

aliveandnotlovingit's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

heartbreaking to read, i love Adam Silvera and how his writing connects readers to his characters.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Car accident, Cursing, Death, Homophobia, Mass/school shootings, Medical content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Domestic abuse, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Chronic illness, Gun violence, and Terminal illness

laurataylor's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Blood, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Medical content, Murder, and Sexual content

lon14_'s review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Medical content

Minor: Car accident

withlivjones's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

They Both Die At The End was such a good book that I initially was very sceptical about the prequel living up to it - I had high expectations, and The First To Die At The End definitely met them!

Valentino and Orion are great characters who both have strong narrative voices. Their relationship was so sweet, if a little insta-lovey, but the fact that this book was longer and slower paced than TBDATE meant this wasn’t as much of an issue. I wasn’t sure that the gag of everyone knowing how the book will end would land a second time, but the slight uncertainty over whether Death-Cast got everything right first time round added a good amount of tension into the plot. 

One of my favourite things about the first book was how it showed the connections between so many people in New York, and this theme is continued really well in this book, with short chapters from various characters’ POVs who are all interconnected (including some familiar faces from TBDATE!). The world-building of the Death-Cast system is also expanded on, as it shows details of society starting to adapt to this life-changing technology, as well as POVs from inside the Death-Cast company. I thought that the secret to Death-Cast might be revealed in this book, and the fact that it wasn’t felt like a bit of a cop-out - but I suppose at least a few people would have been disappointed with every explanation Silvera could have given so maybe the mystery is better left unrevealed. 

Overall, I really enjoyed a lot about this book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Chronic illness

Moderate: Homophobia, Infidelity, and Death of parent

Minor: Sexual content